CURRENTLY INACTIVE

The Guidelines Subcommittee is one of six subcommittees created by the National Steering Committee resulting from discussions on the future of the 507 programs at the 2002 SBO/SBAP National Conference held in Chicago, Illinois. 

Overall Mission
Current Status
Future Plans
Subcommittee Members
Resources
Guidelines Survey Results (2003)
Guidelines for the Implementation of Section 507 of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments

Next conference call:

Overall Mission
The mission of the subcommittee is to explore the usability and relevance of EPA’s guidelines for implementation of Section 507 of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments throughout the SBEAP/SBO network.  Once the relevance and usability are determined, the subcommittee will strive to create a dialogue with EPA to discuss modifications.

Current Status
During the 2002 National Conference Working Session, the following questions were posed to three groups of attendees:

• Are the 507 programs working as intended in the Clean Air Act?
• Are the eight EPA guidelines for the 507 programs realistic and still applicable or are they outdated?  (Are they being followed and, if so, how?, Are additional guidelines needed and, if so, what would they be?)
• Do the 507 programs need a formal review to become more standardized?  (If so, what would the standards be?, Examples: having a minimum commitment of resources the states must give to the program; a requirement for becoming a multimedia program, etc.)

In response to the working session results during the 2002 conference in Chicago, the Guidelines Subcommittee was created.  The subcommittee began by developing a set of questions based on the Clean Air Act requirements and EPA’s Guidelines to determine the usability and relevance of the guidelines.  Guidelines Subcommittee members collaborated with EPA and Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) to post the survey to the Small Business Environmental Home Page.  After extended negotiations with EPA, the survey was posted online and was available to be completed shortly after the 2003 Baltimore Conference.

During the working session of the 2003 conference in Baltimore, participants reviewed the guidelines and discussed the relevancy of various provisions to their program’s functions, activities, and organizational structure.  This created a focus group exercise that helped validate the survey.  Efforts focused on determining the validity of the survey.  The surveys have now been completed and the subcommittee is in the process of analyzing the data. 

Future Plans
The Guidelines Subcommittee is currently analyzing the survey data.  Due to the amount and complexity of the data, this is expected to take many months.  The Subcommittee gladly welcomes anyone who would like to participate in this review.  Once the analysis is complete, the subcommittee will begin discussing survey findings with EPA and the National Steering Committee to determine next steps.

Subcommittee Members
The following are current members of the Guidelines Subcommittee.  For more information about the subcommittee, contact Annette Fulgenzi, Chair. 

Resources
Below are minutes from conference calls, working session notes, and subcommittee report.

SBO/SBEAP National Steering Committee Guidelines (Word)
SBO/SBEAP National Steering Committee Guidelines (Final 2007)
6/04 Guidelines Subcommittee Report (Sacramento, CA)
4/03 Guidelines Subcommittee Report (Baltimore, MD)
1/15/03 Conference Call Minutes
11/21/02 Conference Call Minutes
10/23/02 Conference Call Minutes
7/02 Working Session Notes (Chicago, IL)